Image: GRIC Governor Stephen Roe Lewis, WRRC Director Sharon B. Megdal, CRIT Farm Manager Josh Moore, Universidad de Sonora Professor Elia Tapia, UArizona Professor and Udall Center Director Andrea K. Gerlak, CRIT Chairwoman Amelia Flores
This week in New York, the United Nations held their first UN Water Conference since 1977. The main outcomes of the conference will include a summary of its proceedings and the Water Action Agenda — a “collection of all water-related voluntary commitments to accelerate progress” towards the Sustainable Development Goals set out in the Water Action Agenda as part of the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6) — Clean Water and Sanitation — is a worldwide commitment to achieving universal access to safely managed water and sanitation by 2030. According to UN World Water Day 2023 resources, the latest estimates show that “governments must work on average four times faster” to meet SDG 6 on schedule. The key building blocks of the Water Action Agenda are: 1) commitment to action, 2) sustained and scalable implementation, and 3) follow-up and review processes. The Water Action Agenda seeks to “mobilize action across countries, sectors and stakeholders to meet the global water and sanitation related goals and targets.” Voluntary commitments will continue to be added to the Water Action agenda through the end of the Water Action Decade via the Be the Change campaign organized by UN Water.